For an unprecedented third year in a row, sportsnet.ca voters have overwhelmingly selected Georges St-Pierre as the Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year.
“Winning the Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year award for the third time means a lot to me,” said St-Pierre. “This year there were a lot of nominees that I really respect, so I am honored that the fans chose me. Thanks to all my fans for their support.”
Readers voted on sportsnet.ca in a bracket-style tournament through four head-to-head rounds over the course of 16 days to determine the winner. Voters chose amongst 15 other Canadians including Pittsburgh Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby, NL MVP Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds, Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, Chicago Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews and gold medal winners from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games including Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Alex Bilodeau and Maelle Ricker.
St-Pierre, the reigning UFC welterweight champion, went 2-0 in defending his title over Dan Hardy and Josh Koscheck in 2010. St-Pierre’s win earlier this month catapulted him into the spotlight with his five-round decision over Koscheck at UFC 124 in Montreal.
“The format of the voting process was changed over previous years and GSP had the most difficult path to winning, but it didn’t matter, he was still able to win,” said Nelson Millman, Executive Producer, Rogers Sportsnet. “Dana White claims GSP is now more popular world wide than Wayne Gretzky, and once again MMA fans showed their passion and loyalty to one of their champions.”
St-Pierre beat out Olympic gold-winning snowboarder Ricker in the opening round before facing Votto, who also won this year’s Lou Marsh Award as the top Canadian athlete.
The 29-year-old mixed martial artist from Saint-Isidore, Quebec, went on to beat out first-time Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Toews, who was also named Best Forward at this year’s Men’s Olympic Hockey tournament en route to helping Canada take gold in Vancouver.
The win over Toews set-up a head-to-head against Crosby in the final round. Crosby delivered the most memorable moment in 2010 for Canadian sports fans – scoring the overtime winner over the U.S. to secure the gold medal in Men’s hockey for Canada at the Olympic Winter Games.
With his repeat victory last year, St-Pierre has joined Steve Nash as the only back-to-back winners of the Sportsnet award. Nash took the title back in 2005 and 2006. St-Pierre is regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world and holds a professional record of 21-2.
For all the scores, highlights, breaking news and inside stories, tune in to Sportsnet Connected and log on to sportsnet.ca. “Sports. Your style.”